Urban Spaces and Livelihoods in Hanoi, Vietnam

Urban Spaces and Livelihoods in Hanoi, Vietnam:

An evaluation of how different social groups

endow space and place with different uses, values and meanings

Geog10100 Peoples, places and regions essay

Jonathan Yates 13721325

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Hanoi, Vietnam is the country’s second largest city and its capital. It has a population of an estimated 9.1 million. 2.6 million Of this is in urban areas and the other 6.5 million is in the metropolitan area. For most of Hanoi’s history it was the most important political region for Vietnam. This however changed as Hue took over during the Nguyen Dynasty between 1802 and 1945.  During the time of North and South Vietnam, Hanoi was the capital of North Vietnam. After the north won the Vietnam War, Hanoi became the capital of reunified Vietnam.

        Currently in Hanoi there is a consistent growth in population at around 3.5% a year. This trend in population growth is putting a lot of pressure on the infrastructure of the country and some of the existing infrastructure dates back all the way to early 20th century. These two issues combined have forced the government to take actions to manage the rapid growth and to do this there is a mass urbanisation taking place. This has many negative and positive effects of the city of Hanoi and each social class is being affected differently.

        Up until 1986, the amount of urbanisation across Vietnam was very low. There are many reasons for this, the main two being the period of zero growth 1954-1975 and also because of the de-urbanisation of the south after the reunification 1976. In 1986 the introduction of the “Doi Moi” was initiated. This was an economic reform with a goal to create a “socialist orientated economy”. Since this was introduced, urbanisation has continued to increase and according to the UN 25% of the population in 2002 live in cities. By 2020 they predict that this will rise to 35% with an annual rate of 3%. With this urbanisation brings forth many issues for different social classes in the city. The first social class I am going to look at is the working class.

        In Hanoi with the mass growth of population and infrastructure has brought a growth in the number of shopping malls and in turn the decline of markets. There are many positives and negatives but according to the people of Hanoi in the working class it is a major negative. These never shopping centres/ malls that are being built and opened are causing many heated debates. One of these debates looks at the need to pay for parking to pick up minor goods. The new malls are now becoming many stories tall to make the most of the small amount of space given to them and many of these also contain an underground parking area. This is fine for many developed/ developing countries across the world, but in Hanoi markets are a cultural part of their lives and people who are trying to make a modest profit. These markets are perfect for the average person to pick up a few necessities in a matter of minutes at no extra cost and each purchase will have a positive effect on the supplier. [pic 1]

        In recent times, local authorities have begun to knock down many of Hanoi’s wet markets. This was seen as quite a shock because it was said to have been a very long term and people presumed that eventually something may happen and it has now come as quite a shock.

        As the new markets begin to take place, the stall owners have been given temporary stalls which are actually small sheds on the pavement. Hundreds and hundreds of these sheds have narrowed the pavements and streets. Many of these don’t have any access to the street front and in turn has reduced the amount of business dramatically. Most of these stall owners have lost huge amounts of revenue because of this. Another major issue is rent, when these new malls open the stall owners will be forced to pay a rent to sell their goods. This is something they never had to do before and ultimately will not be able to afford to do so.  The new malls are also many kilometres from the original market place meaning that for many it will be harder to get to their new stall and more expensive.

        The hygiene of the old wet markets was questionable to say the least and on many occasions the media would blame these markets for many health scares. The government in Hanoi couldn’t continue to let these markets fester with mal hygiene and so that is one element they wish to improve by these malls. The government also doesn’t approve of the image of rickety stalls amongst tall, modernised apartment and office blocks. The need and desire of the government in Vietnam and Hanoi to modernise and in a sense catch up with the developed world is arising many issues amongst the working class because of all these eradications of their work place. One view that the working class stall owners have is that the malls won’t be clean either and that just because they are shiny and new doesn’t mean they are necessarily clean. The government has greatly improved the education on food handling and cleaning and they feel that these markets don’t handle the food properly and this is why so many diseases are caused. This is a very valid point and a tough argument to fight, as hygiene and cleanliness are so important nowadays. These outdoor markets where different raw meats are together and dirty hands are handling everything isn’t ideal. But these people still don’t want to change. Some may view this as stubbornness and others ignorance, but if you look deeper there’s more to it. These people live everyday of their lives catching and preparing food to feed hundreds even thousands of others in return to feed their own offspring and families. For them to be forced to move, pay rent, or even stop completely is totally against their way of life. These wet markets and stalls have great meaning and importance to these people. Despite the hardship and pain they go through, the small stall space that they have means everything to them and they show this with their great presentations and how they sell their food with such pride. It may seem like a simple move for these market owners, but how difficult must it be to move your love and also your life?

        Part of the urbanisation of Hanoi is the modernisation of many of their ways of life. One way that the Vietnamese government has done so is as of the 1st July 2008, they banned street vendors from 62 streets and 48 public places. Many of these public places include hospitals, schools, bus and train stations and much of the urban centre.  This social group of street vendors are being hit hard as they now cannot make a living from selling goods as they have nowhere to do it. The only places they can sell their goods are in quieter less profitable areas. It would seen that the state has got one over this group of society as the streets are quieter and there are less vendors than in the past.[pic 2]